Policy Forum Armenia: May elections masqueraded as `free and fair’
A special report released this week by Policy Forum Armenia, a
Washington-based political think tank, has concluded that Armenia’s
2012 Parliamentary elections had only the appearance of being `free
and fair’ while disguising common fraud that has plagued the election
process throughout Armenia’s 21 years of independence.
A summary, released by PFA, says the report:
`. . . provides an overview of political-economic and legislative
developments in the period preceding the 2012 election and summarizes
the reactions of key stakeholders – the opposition parties, foreign
observers, and local civil society groups – to the election outcome. It
conducts a range of statistical tests to provide evidence of election
fraud and to point out the main beneficiary of these corrupt
practices. The findings suggest that the election fraud in Armenia
during the 2012 Parliamentary Election was not gone but instead
transformed into less obvious and observable forms, while remaining
largely outcome-neutral, a phenomenon that is becoming common in the
region as well as other countries with authoritarian leaderships.
Finally, the Report offers recommendations to the opposition, civil
society, foreign observers, and the Diaspora.’
Click here to find the entire report:
From: A. Papazian